Our first gamble of the year is with Patrons of the Arts – a new art market event from a new organizer. I learned about this from convention friends last April. I discovered their IG account when they still didn’t have a lot of posts. It was suspicious at first, but I asked my convention friends about it. They already registered HAHA. And with a 500php discount for early birds for a 6 feet table I felt like it was worth the risk. I didn’t have a lot of products with me at that time, so I invited Inggo to join me. This was his first convention as a crochet artist!
POTA organizers promised some features for this event – an art wall showcasing the artist’s works (we got to take home our framed works after), artist lounge on both ends (who knew there were 2 hidden rooms in this venue?!), discord for communication, and I guess a lot more that I cannot remember. Ingress was impressive. The organizers were very accommodating and really nice. You could feel their passion for this event.
We bought a lot of things for the event – an acrylic display rack for me, mesh wires for Inggo, our very own QR code display, and behind-the-scenes things that you need for a convention. I also brought some of my original paintings for sale. Inggo brought everything he has worked on since we registered for this event. We had no idea how to price crochet works, so he kind of adjusted the prices along the way.
Some highlights posted on my social media: some customers wanted me to sign my postcard prints, my original paintings were sold whenever I’m not manning our table, a customer recognized my katmon sticker so I gave her a freebie of my hoya sticker (she even knew the scientific name!), we saw Inggo’s hats worn throughout the event, one girl even commissioned him on the spot for a penguin coaster, and so much more. ♥️
They even had an official photographer, and the two photos above were taken by him. Thank you so much! That’s the artist lounge behind us HAHA.
This was my first event that I wasn’t with my original artist group January Makers. I felt that after StickerCon 2022, I needed to go solo. Thankfully it wasn’t the case here – as I had Inggo as my new permanent tablemate. It was nice to see everyone – most of my convention friends were in PotA. It was like a mini reunion with everyone and all we did was chika all day. ♥️ Our server friends also visited our table! It was chaotic and fun. We could feel the love.
The first Patrons of the Arts was a successful event. We were raving all day to other artists about this organizer. What a game changer. When they announced a 2024 event, we immediately signed up. Look forward to that post in a couple of months HAHA.